Partnership Highlights: Southpaw Insights

This year, Proximo is starting a new series, called “Partnership Highlights”. Each quarter, we will take the opportunity to put the spotlight on some of our favorite partners, to showcase why they are unique and why we love to work with them.

Kicking this series off, we have Jessica Broome, who runs Southpaw Insights! We not only wanted to focus on Southpaw because we work with them so closely, but we wanted to highlight a woman-owned business since the WBENC Conference is only three weeks away.  

Jessica and Proximo’s paths first crossed in 2012, thanks to a mutual client introduction. Since that introduction, Proximo and Southpaw have worked closely together on many projects and continue to champion each other in the marketplace.

In the 12 years since, our two firms have done some phenomenal work. When Jessica was asked her favorite project with which she’s partnered with Proximo, she said “Greater MSP Business Bridge. It was a great melding of data analytics from the Proximo side and qualitative insights from Southpaw’s side, on a super interesting topic. We explored supplier diversity in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market from different perspectives and gave the client actionable recommendations.”

Why does she think Southpaw Insights and Proximo keep working together? It is quite simple: “Their zone of genius complements ours perfectly!”

Jessica is overflowing with passion in the work that Southpaw Insights does. When asked the single thing she is most passionate about, Jessica replied “The importance of good questionnaire design. One of our core beliefs at Southpaw is that smart decisions are based on smart data. The insights we give to a client could guide the direction of a strategy, a campaign, or an entire organization, and we take this responsibility very seriously. We think a lot about asking the right questions of the right people to garner insights that can help guide our clients' decision-making.”

To do the work Southpaw does, you need good employees and Jessica is exuberantly proud of her team. “We believe that great work comes out of a great workplace, and I've built an awesome group of employees who are wildly different from each other but who work so well together. We all bring our own unique lived experiences into our work, and we all have different skill sets and strengths.”

The top-tier team Jessica has put together allows Southpaw to focus on doing what they do better than anyone else out there. What is that? Take Jessica’s words for it: “Integrating qualitative and quantitative research (meaning we give clients not only reliable metrics and measurement, but also the ‘why’ behind the numbers) AND moving clients from the ‘what’ to the ‘so what’ and ‘now what’ through our signature Activation Workshops.”

We asked Jessica where she wants Southpaw to be in 10 years and she had this to say, “Our grand vision is that all organizations will have a deep and nuanced understanding of their stakeholders so they can be 'THAT brand that really gets me' because they took the time to listen to people. We want to help them get there.” While we will be rooting for Southpaw to grow to new heights and go global, Jessica is proud of her Brooklyn roots and wants to always keep Southpaw Insights headquartered there.

We wanted to end our talk with Jessica on a lighter note. That involved a few favorite questions and Jessica delivered!

Her favorite food? “I’ll never say no to a good burger.”

Her favorite hobby? “I’m a proud member of the Peloton cult. #Southpaw76”

Finally, her dream concert by anyone dead or alive? “I’d recreate the best concert I’ve ever seen: Neko Case at the Crofoot in Pontiac, Michigan. She’s amazing and that venue is THE BEST.”

Thanks again to Jessica for sharing her time with us and allowing us to share a little bit about her great firm and our relationship! If you want to learn more about Southpaw Insights, check them out here: https://www.southpawinsights.com/.